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Howard Keziah › Comments
Start-up Visas Can Jump-Start the Economy - WSJ.com - http://online.wsj.com/article...
Gretchen Smith, jacksutherland and Royce Guin liked this
"...science and engineering graduates should get visas stapled to their diplomas. You complete your higher education here, you get to stay so that you can get out and create jobs, innovate, and grow the economy."
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
This morning NPR was discussing how our current system encourages foreign students to study here, but then discourages them from working or starting businesses here... even though their potential businesses would help create more jobs.
- jacksutherland
Capitalism's Fundamental Flaw - Forbes.com - http://www.forbes.com/2009...
"Rand's flaw? She assumed integrity is implicit in the characters of the "leaders." It isn't."
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
We Choose the Moon: Pre-launch - http://wechoosethemoon.org/
My most vivid childhood memory is of the moment we landed on the moon. I listened in awe as our greatest technological achievement unfolded. I was lucky to grow up with the moon program. It instilled in me the belief that we can accomplish anything if we dedicate ourselves to the task. I hope my grandchildren can experience something so grand.
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
My 2 sons asked me once what history experience that occurred during my life was most memorable. Answer: the 'moon landing/walk' & the JFK assignation when I was a kid. On the positive side, the "Moon" was special.
- john lensi
Unfortunately, I think my generations most vivid space memory is of the Challenger explosion. Since McAuliffe was on board, our school was making a huge deal of it prior to... and then everyone was obviously shocked after.
- jacksutherland
We were at the beach on July 20, 1969 and it was notable as the only vacation where my dad took a TV with us. (Old beach house, no AC or TV in St Augustine, FL!). One of those defining events in a lifetime.
- Gretchen Smith
And I don't think my girls understood why Dave and I were so thrilled to be in the VIP area at Cape Kennedy to see a shuttle launch, it was like a childhood dream. I can still remember the percussion of the launch and the awe of actually seeing it blastoff. Ironically it was the last successful launch of Challenger, about 6 months before the tragedy.
- Gretchen Smith
"If we can land a man on the moon, we can get people to upgrade from #IE6." I think John F. Kennedy said that.
- jacksutherland
I sure remember the Apollo program. I worked there when Apollo 1 blew up on the launch pad killing all of the astronauts. It was very sad and slowed down the program so that I missed working there for the moon landing.
- Gail Carter
I'll be honest. Apple's new Safari 4 really sucks. Freezes. Slow. So sad to see this from Apple. I'm not the only one, either.
Susan Beebe, Benny Fu, Andre P. Siregar and 27 other people liked this
Agree. It's very slow compared to Safari 3. But it's still beta?
- Håkan Dahlström
As much as I love my iMAC I've always preferred Firefox over Safari. Now, if Roboform would just port their software. 1Password just doesn't do the job.
- Brandon Hall
Is this based off the latest and greatest WebKit? If so, I'm really surprised.
- WiseYoda (aka Patrick)
Have not experienced those problems on a MacBook Air.
- Michael Osterman
It also causes other apps to stop working. I've gone back to Safari 3 on all of my macs.
- Sufian Siddiqi
I love Safari 3 on Windows.
- Alp
Isn´t it still beta ? People are spoiled because everyone through "beta" on every service and app for a while because it was hip. It really means not stable. Use a stable release (ie. 3) for critical work. Production releases from them are usually good.
- Thomas Bøhm
The tabs are really unusable.
- Ben
Have not tried it out. But is it really that bad!!
- Sujay
I can't think of anything Apple's made that's great in beta. Final release is always wonderful. Firefox betas may have spoiled us.
- Mike Lewis
I really don't like Safari 4's implementation of tabs. Apart from the fact that they shouldn't be on top, they go all the way to the top edge of the window, which means you will probably accidentally switch tabs while trying to move the window.
- Joey Gibson
To their credit they did make a little headway since 3.x on Windows. They can thank Google for showing them the way by making an instantly appealing and fast webkit browser.
- Adi
Never had a problem with it, I use it full time at home on a 3 year old MBP and my very old Dell PC
- Caspar Aremi
Firefox 3.5 Beta is IMHO faster than 3.0.x on a Mac. It would be great if Firefox would change from Gecko to WebKit.
- Waldemar Schott
I use it all the time without issue. Initially I didn't like the tabs but now really like the position. I can now have lots of tabs open without the crashing I experienced with Firefox. For a beta, it's working well for me.
- Howard Keziah
Perhaps Apple should stop working on browsers. I think that area of consumer computer use is well covered by people who really know what they're doing. We, as an internet, need another browser on the net like we need more trolls. Just my $.02. That and $4.48 gets you Starbucks.
- Dan Messer
Wondering if this is semi-intentional: Let's forget about the Web, folks, it's too unreliable, come to the App Store and buy that far more trustworthy MSM content.
- John Blossom
Agreed. It's driven me back to Firefox. And is it just me, or has there been a total lack of updates for Safari 4? Maybe we'll get them when 10.5.7 drops...
- Andy Bold
I agree, sucks. I prefer Chrome on the PC but like having my bookmarks synced between my PCs so I use Firefox on the Mac and on the PC a lot as well.
- Jim Graham
Yah Safari 4 is a major let down, and seems to screw up a LOT with flash based websites. Not impressed
- Angus Burton
Jim: are you using a plugin to keep your firefox bookmarks synced between your Mac and PC?
- Angus Burton
I actually disagree. I've been running the Beta since it came out and have now pretty much moved over to it full time. I usually run 3 windows, each with multiple tabs open all the time and it's been pretty stable and useable. It crashes every now and again, but with the Saft plugin, I get auto resume when I start it up again. Saft also gives you the option of moving the tabs back under the address bar. All in all, I've been very impressed with it.
- Keith Bennett
from Nambu
I've noticed pages often seem to be endlessly loading, but they function OK. I've had a few freezes as well. The latest Webkit seems more stable, although whenever it crashes the next time I start up it says to get rid of the plug-ins. The only thing I have going is Gears, so I guess that's a problem. My Gmail offline features works though. I don't see the big speed drop from Safari 3, and the latest Firefox ends up hogging all my resources on my Powerbook, so I end up using Safari 4 a lot.
- Steve Wright
It beachballs for me consistently ...Safari 4 + Flash = Crash. Yes, that rhymes.
- Bwana ☠
Wonder if it's time for a "Plug-Ins" spring cleaning!!!! Go to /Library/Internet Plug-ins/ and nuke away!
- sean andersen
Safari 4 beta (with Flash turned off) hasn't crashed or hung for me yet in the last two months.
- Victor Ganata
I've only had a few crashes with Safari 4 with the Webkit nightlies. It's pretty much rock solid and I've been running it since it was released.
- Akiva Moskovitz
im waiting for chrome on the linux....
- Chris Jackson
Funny, I was having so many problems with FireFox 3 I switched to Safari 4 and have been happy as a clam.
- ChiliMac
You can download it again now, it´s updated (you´ll have to upgrade the OS to 10.5.7 first too).
- Thomas Bøhm
I find it to be very fast when its working but it does hang and freeze too often, especially on the "top site" view.
- Justin Luey
I like how it randomly decides not to load a web page now and then. It's as if Safari 4 knows when I need a break.
- Gunny doesn't side-hug™
Yeah, it really doesn't like flash either.
- Drew Lucas
@Drew - Safari 4 + Flash sent me on a long arduous round trip of testing other browsers for OS X, and I've ended up back at Firefox. :-/
- Andy Bold
Yeah I mean, it hangs up every 5 minutes or so, on simple small embeds! *sigh*
- Drew Lucas
Flash remains a problem. Other than that Safari 4 Beta with Webkit is running fine for me.
- Peter Kruit
Maybe that's why Safari 4 Webkit runs so well for me: I avoid Flash like I avoid shooting myself in the face with a bazooka.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Akiva LOL
- Andy Bold
No kidding. What's up with that - I use Apple products cuz they rawk, if I wanted something to suck I'd go back to a PC and use MSFT products
- Mary McKnight
Mary, something tells me you just really love those I'm a Mac/I'm a PC ads.
- Akiva Moskovitz
What do you think of it now?
- Byron McCollum
Keep in mind. That was Beta.
- Drew Lucas
from email
I'm using Safari 4 on Windows 7 and it's great - really, really flies, even compared to Chrome. And no crashes so far!
- Ian Betteridge
Safari 4 seems to be running much smoother compared to Chrome and Mozilla Firefox on my system. In fact, I've already configured Safari 4 to be my new default Web browser!
- Thomas Ward
Funny my experience has been positive. On the PC it runs well and is fast. I wasn't expecting much, now I may use it as much as Google Chrome, we'll see.
- John Hardy
CardStar - iPhone personal card manager - http://www.mycardstar.com/
I am so glad to get all those cards out of my wallet
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Kids with ADHD need to fidget, study says - http://www.physorg.com/news162...
I can say from first hand experience, this applies to grown kids as well.
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Special interests have ramped up their fear mongering in an attempt to derail health care reform. - http://blog.ifawebnews.com/group-l...
As counter to his article, read http://www.scienceblog.com/cms...
- Howard Keziah
Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful - http://www.cnn.com/2009...
"More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life."
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Tips for Real Time Web working on new friendfeed - http://scobleizer.com/2009...
Craig Brownell, Philip Lei, Rafael and 23 other people liked this
This is neat and all, but the comments are still hard as f**k to read since they're #737373, I mean, c'mon! #990000 at least. Sheesh.
- Enrique Gutierrez
Thank you !!!
- Susan Beebe
I agree that turning up the contrast on comments might be a good design move ;-). That put aside, the new look is amazing!
- Xavier
I also agree with Enrique. I also don't like the text I'm reading to jump out from under me.
- Howard Keziah
completely agree. the grey comments sucked hard from the beginning. at least make it customizable!
- nondual
What do you think about the new Friendfeed User Interface? Check this Poll: http://is.gd/r1DI
- Yaron Orenstein
agreed on comment color -"real time update" can be too fast even on a single comment stream -this speed may be better configurable?
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Wrong Tomorrow - pundits vs. time - http://wrongtomorrow.com/
Vasu liked this
It keeps track of predictions of the future by public figures.
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Monitor the records of experts and pundits as a public service? - http://www.nytimes.com/2009...
Gretchen Smith liked this
"The predictions of experts were, on average, only a tiny bit better than random guesses — the equivalent of a chimpanzee throwing darts at a board."
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
I like the rats that beat the Yale students in figuring out the mazes
- Gretchen Smith
Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to the Common Cold - http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi...
Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie) liked this
"Poorer sleep efficiency and shorter sleep duration in the weeks preceding exposure to a rhinovirus were associated with lower resistance to illness."
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Our nation's infrastructure is in really bad shape. - http://www.asce.org/reportc...
Why should we put tax cuts in the stimulus plan when our infrastructure problems are this bad?
- Howard Keziah
Read "Founding Mothers" by Cokie Roberts - then look at where our history books have educated us on what to do...
- Heather Vaartjes
Like a Guest That Won't Leave, BPA Lingers in the Human Body: Scientific American - http://www.sciam.com/article...
FDA and EPA still maintain that BPA is safe
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Regular sprints boost metabolism... Hey, I can do that! - http://www.physorg.com/news152...
"What we have found is that doing a few intense muscle exercises, each lasting only about 30 seconds, dramatically improves your metabolism in just two weeks.""
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Bush Tours America to Survey Damage Caused by His Presidency - http://www.theonion.com/content...
Paul Whitaker, Mona Nomura, Admiral Anika and Howard Keziah liked this
This made my day.
- Howard Keziah
What a lame keynote. Apple is losing its mojo.
Malte Steckmeister, @jessewright, Timo Heuer and 43 other people liked this
I agree with you Steve
- Jason
This is why they opted out of MacWorld. They should hold events when they have products ready, not on a set schedule of a convention.
- Rolf Schewe
Since I'm not tracking any of this...lack of cool announcements? Or lack of Steve Jobs mystique?
- Hutch Carpenter
Welll.... duh. :-) Nobody expected a big deal, did they? They are moving their big announcements elsewhere.
- Louis Gray
Louis, no Mac Mini or Apple TV? Cmon!
- Steve Rubel
from IM
The sky is falling!!!
- Bwana ☠
It's gotten to the point where if Steve Jobs doesn't fly in with a cape and announce the iTime Machine, Apple has FAIL-ed. I am glad they are done with MacWorld.
- Rolf Schewe
Every keynote is a disappointment if your expectations are set way too high. This is actually what I expected... I still think we're going to see a speed bump on the mac minis soon
- Bwana ☠
Rolf: Nail.On.Head
- Matthew DeVries
The iLife announcements got me excited, at least!
- Andy DeSoto
@Chris: I agree. The product cycles have to better coincide with the business/consumer buying cycles. MacWorld was like Christmas shopping in January. Made no sense.
- Rolf Schewe
I hate to tell you guys, but Apple's innovation run is over for now. Innovator's dillema.
- Steve Rubel
from IM
it takes time to build great products - it's a bit unfair to expect a bang every 6 months!
- Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)
There's been nothing breakthrough out of Apple since the iPhone debut two years ago. Even the app store is the work of the development community.
- Steve Rubel
from IM
Cristo, Google is innovating like crazy. And, to be fair, so is HP, Lenovo and Nintendo. (Note HP is a client)
- Steve Rubel
from IM
@Cristo Look at Gmail Labs or Google Docs. Tons of innovation
- Steve Rubel
from IM
Who needs mojo when you got one of the slickest marketing shops around.
- Alex Scoble
Paint drying keynote.
- Ian D. Nock
Even Leopard didn't have the same rate of innovation that Tiger did. Look, I am a huge Apple fan. Ask anyone. But look under the hood beyond RDF and you will see what I mean
- Steve Rubel
from IM
I would expect to see more frequent updates from Apple, rather than the big two we've historically seen. Especially now, it will be a way for Apple to get more attention on the rest of the management team.
- LogEx
Apples (no pun intended) and oranges. You can't compare Google and Apple on these merits. Their only overlap is with Android. I see big things from Snow Leopard with Grand Central and Open CL regarding performance and efficient use of system resources. The keynote is what was expected. Anything else was fantasy.
- Rolf Schewe
Christo, I agree - they're not behind. But they are vulnerable.
- Steve Rubel
from IM
one lame keynote does not a mojo losing company make
- Steve Mann
from twhirl
Vulnerable to what? Windows 7, which is Vista Plus? Blackberry Storm? Netbooks? I don't want a "cheap" laptop. Zune? iTunes just made a huge power move. Don't see it. I see the opposite. Next year, at non-MacWorld events, we will see a ton of new products. New iPhones, Mac Pros, Next-gen Apple TV, etc., etc.
- Rolf Schewe
@Rolfe Vulnerable to missing the big turn. iLife wont be necessary soon. Web apps are the future and Apple is notoriously weak here. Two words: Mobile Me.
- Steve Rubel
from IM
So iWork.com is a flop?
- Bwana ☠
I think MobileMe is vaporware in it's current manifestation. It was DOA. I agree with Google
- Rolf Schewe
Bwana, I thought so, yes. Will you stop using Google Docs (assuming you do)? Plus there's no iPhone access - that I saw. They should stick to hw/sw not web apps.
- Steve Rubel
from IM
Cristo, do you use any web apps? Flickr? Photoshop.com? That's where the innovation is today (Note Adobe is a client)
- Steve Rubel
from IM
.mac--lame. MobileMe--lame. By association: iWork.com--lame.
- Rob Michael (Atmos Trio)
I don't think web apps will reach mass adoption in 2009 and I believe Apple is making the right choices. With that said, I will reserve judgement on iwork.com and the other offerings until I use them. Overall, I think we're overreacting here.
- Bwana ☠
Bwana, it's the Internet, are you new here? It's millions of miles of interconnected fiber, copper, silicon, and electrons with the soul use of pornography and over-reacting to things.
- Matthew DeVries
I think MobileMe is vaporware in it's current manifestation. It was DOA. I agree on your online apps point. Google is making a lot of headway. Not sure how it will pan out in the long-run. Xbox 360 has made some interesting inroads to the living room while all this is going on. I don't know what the future holds. Tech-centic people like ourselves will not determine the future. Regular people will.
- Rolf Schewe
I think iWork.com is on the right track, although I'm not a fan of charging for the service. I still don't have web access on most of my flights or bus rides and still have to pay for it at a good portion of hotels and airports. I want to edit and store on my machine first and foremost.
- Greg
I liked what I saw. Improvements to products I use and can afford. What did you expect? No wonder Apple is pulling out of MacWorld. The level of expectation is absurd.
- Howard Keziah
I don't like how there isn't an upgrade price option for iWork 09. All the major software has an upgrade price, this should be no different. Granted its not expensive compared to FCP, there should still be some benefit to being a previous customer.
- Justin Wah Kan
I'm ok with price structures adjusting to that upgraders pay more while new adopters pay less. One price to rule them all.
- Matthew DeVries
Look, I'm typing this on my new Macbook with an iPhone few inches away, but I honestly believe that Anti-Social MobileMe is just a wrong direction, lack of vision if you prefer. I can't see anybody who regularly use modern social media be a user of MobileMe. The only good thing about that service is a Push, but for how long? Better yet, they launched iWork.com which makes even less sense to me (can't edit docs online, but only share them with, if you're lucky, 2-3 people you know who has iWork09).
- Dias
I'm not sure why MobileMe gets compared to social media. As far as I can see, social media is about facilitating global conversation. MobileMe does nothing in that area, and is instead about providing convenience for people who have more than one mac. I have two of my own, and have at various times had a third one at my workplace, and it's been very useful in that context. It is quite flawed, but as yet there isn't a real alternative.
- Robin Barooah
And as far as innovation is concerned. I think the battery improvements will make a huge difference as they roll them out across the line (once people have got over complaining about them), and will be tricky for competitors to counter. Also, I've tried iWork.com. It works smoothly, and is immediately obvious for a newcomer to understand, unlike google docs. And after that poor launch of MobileMe, I imagine they want to underpromise and overdeliver.
- Robin Barooah
Still waiting for MobileUs!
- Scott Loftesness
Steve, this meme is right up there with "John McCain just won the election" when he announced Sarah Palin as his running mate. Apple's model of innovation isn't to be the first, it's to evaluate emerging markets and figure out how to best to dominate them. Outside of email, name one area where apps in the cloud outsell desktop apps. Eventually, that may start to change and you can bet Apple will be there with something that changes the game.
- Kevin Pedraja
@Kevin I can't be right all the time. That would make me - Obama!
- Steve Rubel
from IM
Great thread. I expected little from this Macworld, and got a little more than I expected. Overall, I'm satisfied. (Except for the fact that I don't actually *have* the new MacBook Pro on my desk at the moment.) Steve, you say Apple hasn't innovated much in two years, since the iPhone. First off, I disagree -- the App Store was brilliant. But even if you're right, what big innovation did they have between the iPod and iPhone? iPod video maybe. IOW, going 2+ years between major innovations is nothing new.
- Mitch Wagner
The thinnest 17-inch laptop and extended battery were good new innovations to me. It would be cool if Apple did actually show the MacBook Wheel!!!!
- Alvin
Every time Apple doesn't live up to the completely over-inflated blogosphere expectations, everyone says Apple has lost its mojo. I've been watching Apple lose its mojo for about three years now, by my count.
- Jeff Ventura
I liked the MacBook Wheel announcement better.
- Nick Humphries
Still, most brands would want even half Apple's mojo!
- Joe Buhler
True. Quite disappointed about the lack of Mac Mini news, after all that pre-Keynote noise...
- Jordi Soler
@SteveRubel There's one big flaw in your pov: you are in the 10%, maybe 1% of the leading edge on using tech, talking to the rest of the leading 10%. 90% of the world is yet to grasp, buy and use this. In an effort to be way out in front, it is easy to forget Apple is designing for millions, not the futuristic 1% who act like 3g iPhones are from the 1950's.
- Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct
I disagree. If the trend holds for online videos popularity, the iMovie improvements coupled with affordable HD camcorders could be the sleeper hit from this year's keynote.
- Brandon Mendelson
"Someone needs to post an automated communications magic 8 ball, where you enter everything you have to say, shake it, and it decides where to post it."
From my daughter as she struggles with all the social media choices.
- Howard Keziah
No one asked @RocmanUSA what he cut out of @guykawasaki interview. His edits made it way better. Do you like edited video? Or whole thing?
Rocky Barbanica, Susan Beebe, Howard Keziah and 3 other people liked this
Both. I like to see what "you" the publisher wants to present. No one has the right to take creative editor away. But I'd ALSO like the option (online we call it a link), to see the edits, or an unedited version, or??? Certainly no one has time for watching 2 versions of every video, especially long ones. But some smart pres of the 'rest of the story'? You betcha!
- Ed Shahzade /NextInstinct
Agree with Ed - seeing both is helpful. Plus, it helps me understand your message as well as the interviewee's.
- Chris Rogers
from twhirl
I like edited video. Video is time consuming to watch and I don't have time to waste - give me the quality content from an interview. I really enjoyed the interview with Guy.
- Howard Keziah
Gregory: you can download our videos and play them from your hard drive.
- Robert Scoble
Chemotherapy may promote development of cancer later in life - http://www.marinij.com/marinne...
For adventurous, here's the source article: http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlser...
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Fuck the South - http://www.fuckthesouth.com/
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Brian Bufalo and Neal Jansons liked this
Angry but true.
- Tad Chef
What's true about generalizing about an entire region? He is as guilty of bias as the Southerners he's blasting. I live in the south and there are plenty of liberals here, just as you can find racists in the north, east, and west.
- Howard Keziah
I don't see what's particularly wrong with having a bias or an opinion. He states his position and explains his reasons for holding it. As as a person who grew up in the south and left as soon as I could, I have to say "plenty" doesn't equal "controlling majority". When the schools, cops, local government, and local media are unified in their stance, as they generally are, then that "plenty" doesn't help a bit.
- Neal Jansons
Gee, I guess I suck then...
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
Twistory now in public beta - http://twistory.net/
Back in April I really wanted this. Now, without FriendFeed support, it's like, yawn.
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
I hate it when it turns out I was right about economic downturn. Consumers are hoarding and hoarding in ways we didn't forsee. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap...
MVB (Curmudgeon of FF), Susan Beebe, Neal Jansons and 10 other people liked this
I also remember lots of people jumping on me for being too negative. Sorry, you guys were wrong. I study human behavior. This is going to be long and deep.
- Robert Scoble
The concern though is whether or not it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Would there be as much hoarding if the media hadn't warned over and over that it would happen, making the consumers think they should probably do so.
- xero
xero: I'm sure there is some effect there as well, but I'd rather just tell the truth and let the coins fall where they may rather than try to cheerlead.
- Robert Scoble
I didn't jump on you for being negative... I simply stated that I'm not hoarding and that hoarding magnifies the issue. ;)
- Kevin C. Tofel
But if the problem has been that we've been telling people to spend and incurr debt to do so for so long, it seems natural that most would rather save, pay off debt and be liquid. You can't prop up too much debt with more debt and that's what we've done for a while
- Matt Van Winkle
Kevin: retail sales demonstrate that someone is hoarding. Same with auto industry sales. Same with Chinese economic slowdown. I certainly am hoarding, preparing for tough times ahead.
- Robert Scoble
Matt: I think the problem is worse than that. Tons of people in the media business have gotten laid off. More layoffs are coming. So, we're preparing for a really bad time, not just paying off credit cards.
- Robert Scoble
I don't fault you for telling the truth and airing your concerns, I'm glad you do that, wish more media did. I did get on to you once or twice though about repeatedly flooding us with despair-laden articles without the occasional hopeful or inspirational one to help the situation.
- xero
And media business isn't even the one that's been hardest hit so far. Finance, autos, manufacturing are getting hard hit.
- Robert Scoble
xero: there wasn't much hope back then. Still isn't much today. If there's one bright spot it's that startups keep getting funded, although even there fewer are getting funded today than were getting funded a year ago. That said, I see the factories in China are still very busy (and they don't build stuff if they don't have orders).
- Robert Scoble
Robert: but you're not just telling the truth and letting the coins fall where they may. You keep saying "long and deep." That is opinion. An educated opinion maybe, but opinion none the less. I have to agree with @xero. Economies rise and fall on public opinion as well as fact.
- Howard Keziah
Robert, I'm not in disagreement about the fact that consumers/businesses are hoarding. You're right. The reports and the economy show that. I get it. I'm simply pointing out (using my undergrad and grad studies in Econ) that hoarding makes the economic issues worse for the aggregate. Individually, consumers might feel better by hoarding, but that hurts the economy at large through the multiplier effect. That's all I'm saying. :)
- Kevin C. Tofel
Robert from what I've seen in the games industry isn't necassarily hoarding (though it is the case for some), but the willingness to spend is still there but in many cases product costs rose at the same time a person's personal expenses (i.e. food, gas, rent, and accumulation of bills) increased it forced people to cut back on non-essentials. Since wage isn't really increasing at any rate to combat the climb most around me have no choice but to avoid spending.
- Bryan
I should note I'm talking about the card, board, and table-top game market, I have nothing i can say from the video game market at this time.
- Bryan
Bryan: that's why this wasn't very influenced by media. Gas prices really hurt a lot of people's budgets. My brother says his bar's business has come back a bit since gas prices went back down.
- Robert Scoble
Howard: yeah, that's opinion, but one that is backed up by a variety of facts. First of all, it's the opinion of other smarter people. Most of the VC's I've talked to tell me it's going to be long and deep. The market itself demonstrates that it's going to be long and deep. But, the banking system itself is behind this and economists told me that they had gotten far more skittish about loaning money out, both to consumers and to businesses. That is why experts predicted it'd be long and deep.
- Robert Scoble
Robert, it's not just credit cards - it's debt in general. We have too much of it as individuals, as a society and our government lives off it. The bigger problem is that every time the economy tries to make a natural downturn we try to prevent it through lower Fed interest rates, etc. We are just delaying the inevitable and making it worse. Yeah, it's going to be bad out there, but it should. The natural markets all need to correct.
- Matt Van Winkle
If by "hoarding" you mean people have decided that maybe they shouldn't buy things until they actually have the money to buy them, then yes... I suppose people are indeed "hoarding"
- Ken Sheppardson
It might be long and deep but it will recovery and be stronger. Many current sectors may have to partially shut down, but new sectors are emerging, many of which will need those exact same people. The ubiquity of the Internet and the newly catching trends in minimal self-employment may actually work in favor of those seeking a new job to improve their lifestyle. You should at least have 6 months worth of current-lifestyle expenses in savings. Maybe now is the time start hoarding up to 8-12 months though?
- xero
Ken: I have money to spend on lots of things. But I'm not spending. I'm expecting I'll need that money in future if I get laid off. It's all fear, but it's rational fear. Many of my coworkers (and competitors) got laid off already.
- Robert Scoble
Robert: Calling it "hoarding" just strikes me as putting a negative spin on something that's what personal finance advisors have *always* recommended: pay off your credit cards every month, keep a ~3-6 month supply of cash on hand, save for retirement, etc. We're going through an adjustment period in the economy that will likely be better for everyone involved, other than folks who sell...
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- Ken Sheppardson
Ken: sorry, the changes we're seeing in the economy aren't due to "good personal finance" behaviors. I was already practicing those. But now that we're afraid (or, worse, laid off already) we are radically changing our buying behavior. We are putting off stuff that needs to be done (in my case, fixing a shower) that would be done in a normal time. That deepens downturns and is still happening. People who are laid off don't worry about the stuff you are talking about. They worry about survival.
- Robert Scoble
Ken: the market works on disposable income. If people fear they do not have any disposable income, they stop buying, businesses fail, people lose their jobs, and perpetuate their inability to buy. It's a simple universalization: if everyone stops buying because they're saving their money and paying down debt, who's left to buy things? People need to buy things they don't need: it's what keeps a capitalistic system from failing.
- Mark Trapp
Robert: I guess if you want to generalize about what 300mil people are doing based on your own situationn I can't stop you ;-), but considering the ~1trillion in outstanding unsecured revolving personal debt in the US, and the numbers RE people who bought homes they were just hoping/wishing they'd be able to afford, I'd say there are plenty of people who aren't practicing good personal...
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- Ken Sheppardson
Robert, please see this, that I linked to a little while ago, we have known that MOST of america is in major debt for a long time and done nothing. you are an exception to the norm in terms of saving money - http://friendfeed.com/e...
- mjc
and yes the article is old but that is the whole point, it rings truer now than it did then
- mjc
This holiday season will be interesting to watch for sure, if consumers expenses can stay lower this winter then we will see a rebound in sales. I read an MSNBC article that a number of banks are putting forth initiatives to rework loan terms to get people paying again and resume some cash flow rather than deal with the vast numbers of defaults they currently have. This could also have a positive impact on the spending fear.
- Bryan
Are we going to have a saving Vs hoarding debate again? :P Dips in consumer spending aren't always down to people hoarding, sometimes they simply have no money ;)
- Steven Cains
This downturn in our economy has marked a fundamental shift in how I personally view the world. I doubt I will ever spend money the way that I've done in the past for the rest of my life. I think that for many of us this downturn will in the end affect us in many of the same ways that the Great Depression affected our grandparents.
- Thomas Hawk
@thomashawk before the economy turned down, we were pretty careful. What frustrates me now with this downturn is having to make deep cuts into what I consider necessary expenditures (like office space, for example). Where there was little padding before, there is none now. I can't help but feel punished at the hands of greedy bankers and CEOs, and I don't much like it. :(
- Karoli
from IM
+1 Thomas - same here. I have zero debt and have put off our kitchen remodel. Just did some "home handywork" myself and I have a very good income, but I am saving my cash. Just re-financed my auto loan as rates are good.
- Susan Beebe
Michael - true, I should have clarified that... zero credit card debt; just mortgage and cars
- Susan Beebe
Robert, I also fear a long/deep recession, but I also remember when you had a similar sentiment about the election. I recognize this different and share your fears, but like with the election there are still too many variables and unknowns. Hoping inauguration has a big psychological boost...
- JonathanJoseph
It's not hoarding - it's SAVING and living within means, a concept that many people seem to have forgotten about in the past decade.
- Aviv
Aviv, sorry, what I'm doing is not saving. Saving is putting 10% aside every month. This is the cessation of all non-essential spending to super save and hoard resources for a long downturn.
- Robert Scoble
Robert, and that is exactly what happens when you live off of easy credit for years and put nothing aside. People with savings can still afford to take a vacation (hey, it's super-cheap these days), buy a car (hey, it's super-cheap these days with $5000000 cashbacks) and treat themselves to a $6 latte. The problem is that many people used to pay for that latte using a home equity line of credit.
- Aviv
A Critical Choice Regarding Innovation - http://radar.oreilly.com/2008...
Michael R. Bernstein, Atul Arora, Bruce Lewis and 3 other people liked this
Tim O'Reilly is onto something, but I think you still need to guide the feedback loop. Ask tons of people what they want and you'll get a lot of weird responses. Ask them "what kind of case do you want for your iPhone" and you'll get much more useful responses. So, the role of a product designer might be more like a conductor. Knowing the right question, or the right discussion point, to ask people is going to be a valuable skill and having a group who can answer that question is going to be even more valuable.
- Robert Scoble
I love this talk at TED http://tinyurl.com/6gg2qh, about customer voice. Sometimes people don't know what they want and what they like. In this talk, Gladwell suggests that the answer is diversity. There is not one product that will suit all of us.
- Olivier Castets
Excellent point Robert. 27 years of product design has taught me there's often a big difference between what people say they want and what they'll actually pay for.
- Howard Keziah
Sony's new Reader close to greatness, but a bit too dim - http://www.engadget.com/2008...
Veronica, Paolo Feadin and Howard Keziah liked this
Great features but the greatness of the Kindle is the Amazon store. It's sometimes too easy to buy new books for the Kindle! I'm addicted to the Kindle even if it is clunky.
- Howard Keziah
jQuery Intellisense Updates from Microsoft - Rick Strahl's Web Log - http://www.west-wind.com/weblog...
I'm really glad to see Microsoft embracing jQuery.
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Sounds of hard drives needing data recovery - Datacent - http://datacent.com/hard_dr...
Wish I knew about this site two months ago.
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
BIZKIDZ.COM - Create your store, earn real money! - http://www.bizkidz.com/
Arthur Welf and Aram Zucker-Scharff liked this
I've got mixed feelings about this.
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
That's really interesting from several angles. One someone is going for the "make money on the internet for kids niche" which I haven't seen tackled before (not to say it hasn't)....and two when you click on the find out more button, it looks very much like a sales letter...it is definitely pitched at the (ambitious?) parents not the kids....so the real niche market is the ambitious parents of kids
- Allison
Bush Audibles on Handoff to Obama - http://redgreenandblue.org/2008...
Does Bush care how history judges him?
- Howard Keziah
from Bookmarklet
Painting with Remote Control Toy Cars - http://www.trendhunter.com/trends...
If I hadn't seen the Camaro first I would have never visited the site. Just proves that an artist can make art with anything.
- Howard Keziah
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